Half-Way to Three

Yesterday, Z hit the big 2.5. I mean, wow. Let's just slow things down a hot minute, shall we?!

When Z was 6 months old, we started a half-birthday tradition: half a cake, a candle to blow out, and a yummy meal...just the three of us. This year will be no exception, but the Hubs is on a work trip, so the half-celebration will wait till the weekend. Yesterday before lunch, the bug and I dashed to Starbucks for a little momma/daughter celebration: chocolate milk ("mak") & cake pops ("bay bots" - not sure why she says it like this. She can say both cake and pops separately, but together, it just doesn't quite work.). It was the perfect pre-lunch appetizer!

Let's get the stats out of the way. We met with a new pediatrician a few weeks ago, so the kid was weighed and measured. (The sweet doctor couldn't do much else, though, cuz Z threw a holy screaming fit the entire time.) Z is still a petite miss: 27 lbs (35%) and 34.6 in (31%), though I'm certain she's grown since that appointment.

These days, Z is really showing off every bit of her 2 and a half-ness. The tantrums are inexplicable and amazing. We're talking Linda-Blair-call-an-exorsist level freak-outs...for no obvious reason. Thankfully, fits on that level only happen once or twice a week (though some seem to last all day), but the smaller ones show themselves much more often, like most kids her age. It's crazy how a normally easy-going kiddo can flip a switch into psycho land so quickly. And then the switch flips again and it's like it never happened. Meanwhile, her parents are left totally drained and she's running around all silly pants. Toddlers, man!

Freak outs aside, the kid amazes me every day with the things she says and does. She can count to 15 (sometimes 20) and sing the ABCs, if you are a little relaxed with pronunciation and consider half of the letters to be either B or E. She can "retell" half the books on her shelf, and knows the words to more songs than her daddy does. The kid loves stuffed animals and mommy's old CPKs, but Kiki the meerkat is still #1 in her book. And apparently Kiki is a heck of a joke teller, cuz we hear lots of giggling and "Oh Kiki. So silly." 

At two and a half, Z is sassy and smart and silly and chatty. She's loves music and dance and books and puzzles and art. She "cooks" elaborate meals in her little kitchen and carries on hilarious and dramatic convos on her play phone.

Retro Kitchen

She's also stubborn as hell, and it drives me nuts when she sasses a short and strong, "no!" And although I now see why many SAHMs are guzzling wine by the gallon (I hate wine, btw...in case you're wondering if I've reached that level of frustration), I wouldn't want it any other way. Cuz for every emphatic "no!" or "mine!", there's a super sweet "I lah yoooo!" with a fish kiss on the side. And it kills me every time!